John the Baptist was one of the first people to recognise Jesus as the Messiah, even when he was in the womb! John understood who Jesus was in God's Kingdom and what He ws called to do. John prepared the people for repentance, waiting for Jesus to come. John pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God, the one who came to save us from our sin. Where do we point - to ourselves or to Jesus?

Christmas is a time where joy and peace is promoted. Jesus came as a peacemaker into this world but, as Simeon prophesied, Jesus' coming was also going to cause conflict between people. This conflict was also going to challenge people within themselves. This inner battle we face is when our own desires conflict with what jesus wants for us. We will only find peace when we allow God to take control of our life. We see a lot of conflict in the world today because people are looking in the wrong place. True peace only comes through Jesus as people align themselves with Him.

Joseph was the earthly father of Jesus but showed great humility in standing in the background to allow the focus to be all about Jesus. Everytime that God speaks to Joseph, he responds immediately with faith and trust. Joseph was engaged to Mary but when he found out she was pregnant his first thought was to break the engagement, but instead, he obeyed the words of God and followed God's agenda. We need to follow God's agenda and not ours. In becoming a Christian we need to realise that we are a sinner and that we need to be forgiven. We give up our own rights to follow Jesus and we need to follow Him without conditions.

Isaiah tells the people of the day that they live in a land of darkness - not a physical darkness but a spiritual darkness. The people had turned away from and were ignorant of God. God's people looked from amongest themselves for guidance in life rather than relying on God. Isaiah prophesied the coming of Jesus, the only way our world could be saved. Jesus is the light that comes in this dark world and provides the hope of salvation to anyone who receives Him as their Saviour.